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tv   First Ladies Influence Image  CSPAN  March 23, 2013 7:00pm-8:35pm EDT

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cable tv provider. coming up, our series "first ladies: influence and image." that is followed later, actress maries caat the national press club. elizabeth monroe was a true partner in her husband's career and was a good sounding board for policies he had to evolve. >> they were a love story if one ever was absolutely devoted to each other. >> she had a very well developed sense of style and her jewelry is a reflection of that. >> she knew how to carry
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herself with great elegance. most -- one of the >> my goodness what she could talk about. >> she was described in one beauty. a rose pettle she received very little at the white house. she was a recluse. absolutely hated it. >> she served as first lady to her husband james monroe. well explore her life and what were not always happy times in the white house to this woman born in a well to do family who married james monroe at age 17 who travelled with him bringing
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to the white house a french sense ability. good evening and welcome to the first ladies influence and image. we're going to look at the life of elizabeth monroe. we have two guests to do that. danielle preston is at the university of maryland in virginia. >> and consultant for this series. >> last program was dolley madison who introduced and then perfected parlor politics using social forum to advance her husband's political agenda. what was elizabeth monroe's approach to the white house. >> they were great referendum and had been for years and years but there were a very different temperament. dolley madison was social by nature. . e loved large receptions
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elizabeth loved to stay home with her family. she was devoted to her daughters, to her grandchildren and at the white house that's what she really enjoyed. that's what she wanted to do. she wanted to be with her family. she did not like large crowds which was very uncomfortable at the large receptions that the president had but was very charming in smaller groups. at small dinners or a small group of friend or visitors, everyone praised her charm, her conversation. said she sparkled so just a very different type of person than dolley madison. >> explain washington in this time period and how important social was to political. >> well rkt it's interesting. as you said the monroe years
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are the era of good feeling. i think you could probably take issue with that, particularly the second term. by that point we were close to being a one party state. the old fed ra list party had died off. the war of 1812 had been concluded that most considered a victory. we had established our independence and so it was a period of actually great boom in the country, fiscal expansion. a number of states came into the union during monroe's day. and yet washington city mained this very raw incomplete place with dirt roads. in some ways elizabeth monroe like adams suffers for her
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strengths. they were both seen as somehow alien. elizabeth was born in this country but in many ways she has her blossoming overseas, na france especially. and the monroes became famous for the frefrpblness with which they approached life in the white house. you can see it in the furniture they bought. you can see it in the food that they served. and there was almost a gnativist element that took exception to a first lady who didn't seem american enough. >> let's take a look at staths about america in 1820. it is a booming country. population of 9.6 million and now 23 states. that's a 33% growth since the 1810 census. slaves 1.5 million.
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largest cities new york and philadelphia. >> you had the transportation revolution going on. there were only three roads mown tains. lashen you have the railroad in new york that will transform the economy. you have the road from the capital to west virginia which you have this whole debate about internal improvements and what the role of the federal government should be and all of that. this is a country poised for an economic take off. monroe prosides over it. dan, as you work your way academically through the monroe papers, how much documentary evidence is there about elizabeth monroe? >> unfortunately there is not a lot. based on what her daughter
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reported was that at some point after he left the presidency monroe burned all personal correspondence. there is one letter that survives that is written by elizabeth. there is one letter from james to her that survives. what baffles me and drives me nuts is there is only one let they're she wrote to somebody else. she had an extensive correspondence with her friends and sisters and these letters aren't anywhere. beyond why not. seems like somebody would have kept some of these. subsequently there is a lot we don't have. there are letters that mon crow wrote to her sons-in-laws that
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talk about family matters. congressmen wrote letters home talking about meeting ms monroe. other women in washington recorded in their diaries about meeting her but we don't have anything from her point of view which is madening. >> what do we know about her relationship with her husband? >> they were absolutely devoted. they were apart for a couple of months here and there throughout their 44 year marriage but usually they were together. there say wonderful letter speaking of congressmen, congressman from new york wrote his wife that he had been at a dinner at the white house when jefferson was president and it was right before monroe went to
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france to negotiate the louisiana purchase and mitchell wrote to his wife saying monroe has a fine conjugal feeling. he can't stand to be separated from his wife so he's taking her with him to europe. he was devoted to family as well. asia said before that's really what they wanted to do. if they had their choice of how they would spend time, it would be with their family. >> this program is interactive. we invite your phone calls. 85- can reach us at 202-3 3881. let me turn to a facebook poster. we have heard elizabeth monroe didn't like being first lady. how did the american people of
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the day feel about her? did she not like first lady or not like the public parts of it? >> she didn't like the public parts. he married james monroe when he was a member of the continental congress so through their entire adult life he was in one public office or another. so she was very much used to him being a public figure, being in the u.s. senate, being governor of virginia, being abroad as a minister of the united states. serving as secretary of state. this was her life. so to go to the white house wasn't anything unusual. it wasn't unexpected which people had talked about him being president for years so it was assumed sooner or later this was going to happen. as far as what the public thought about her, i don't know that we know what the public thought about her. we know what people in washington thought about her
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and people who visited washington. but that's a very small universe. there were 200 members of the house of representatives. about 50 senators. there was the supreme court, a handful of cabinet members. a few foreign dignitaries. local people. the washington social kirkle was maybe 500 people and that was the world that we think when we talk about social washington, it's this very small group of people. and that's who met her and who reflected on her. people didn't know. in fact, when monroe was president, he did two tours around the country and they were phenomenal because no one ever saw the president. no one ever heard the president talk. we can't go through a day hardly. you have to be sealed up to go through a day to not hear the president's voice or to see an
quote
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image of him. a man in massachusetts wrote in 1817, several months after monroe became president that for the first time he saw a picture of president monroe. james madison gave three speeches when he was president. thomas jefferson did too. people never saw the president, they never heard the president, let alone the first ladies. so the public perception, there really isn't a public perception. it's a good question but it's sitchpli a different time and it's not there. >> the white house was burned by the british and the madisons had to leave. the mon rose were able to move back in. how important symbolically was this for the country? >> huge. the white house had become in
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effect america's house. one of the reasons why then and since its occupants have been targeted for criticism much of it unfair is because we all think that it's our house. ms. monroe was the first in a long line of first ladies who would be criticized for alleged obsession with fashion. it was known that she paid up to $1500 for a gown. it was alleged that she had picked up the french habit of painting her face and applying rouge. as silly as this sounds now to boned yank ee republic it shows whause kind of nation we're going to be. >> the blue room at the white house reflects to this day the monroe administration. we're going to show you that
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next. this is a clib from a special dock mebtry c-span did a few years back on the white house. we'll show you that now. video playing] >> the blue room shows the monroes. the wheels of the united states began to turn them. it began to come to life. and monroe thought that the era of good feeling as it was called would last forever and political parties would dissolve. people began moving west. that is the period i would like to be listening to what was going on. in furnishing the house, they were into french. they spoke french at home. they lived in france which he wanted the furniture to come
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from france and he spent a lot of money bringing things such as the clock that have stood on the mantle since 1818. many of the things he acquired are still in use. you have that that all of the presidents have used since then. when you see our earliest things many of them are in the blue room. so we have the wonderful chairs and sofa in the room. they were acquired by president monroe from france. he was criticizeds for buying french things and not american. they passed a law saying the furniture of the white house must be american manufacturing, if possible. >> the wallpaper is of the same period as the portrait of sam yull monroe. it's really a place where the monroes would feel the most comfortable too. like teddy roosevelt in the
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east radio. . i understand this room. that's the furniture we bought and this is wallpaper that is f our vintage. >> so it sounds as though buying french and speaking french was as controversial then as it is today. >> yeah. it goes back to the beginning in the presidency of trying to balance the new standards, the new republican standards of simplicity and openness. but at the same time somehow maintaining a dignity and a majesty for the government. how do you be open but at the same time present the country as being something special, particularly for visitors. and for the monroes and for
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other presidents, the white house became the tool for doing that. monroe was praised. people who met him always mmented on what a plain, straightforward person he was. but then you look at how he and mrs. monroe furnish shd the white house and it's very different. monroe understood the importance of symbolism. and for him the white house was a symbol of the united states. and so it was to present it in a fashion that i think majesty is really the best word. so how in a republic can you present the majesty of the country and you do it in the president's house. but na nly majestic pole i don't know i can. befriended na
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polian when he flived paris. he had originally ordered 56 pieces of mahogany furniture from france and he was told that mahogany was not appropriate to a gentleman's house. this is what he got in its place. >> here is a tweet that asked did the monroes face any lingering problems in the white house as a result of the british burning in 1814. what state of repair was it in when they got there? >> it was not ready in march of 1817 when monroe became president and they lived in another house for several months. and then in june monroe left washington and went on a four month tour around the country. his family went back to virginia. he returned to the president's house in 1817 and at that point it was ready to move in.
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they began moving furniture in. the furniture they ordered wasn't ready. he used his own personal furniture and they borrowed purn furniture and it was a haphazard way of furnishing the house. some of the rooms were still empty. the house informs good shape. it wasn't like when the adams moved in where the plaster was still wet and the rooms were not useable. it was in good shape, there just wasn't any furniture for it. >> we're looking at the picture of the monroe's addition to the uilding. >> i understood that elizabeth monroe suffered from poor health.
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i don't know if it's true or what she had but i wondered if that affected her ability to be social when that was part of the politics versus dolley madison. is there any information that's been obtained about how she was able to function socially with poor health? >> that's a great question because it does go to the heart of why she was almost invisible first lady during a lot of those eight years. she had serious health problems. dan probably knows more than i do. is i know she had bad headaches. it was thought she suffered from rheumatism and arthritis and maybe a late on set epilepsy which was known as the falling disease and that would have been kept secret from the public. one of the by products of her
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ill health is she often had stand in her place her daughter. and it is her daughter who is responsible for a number of these actions that have been blamed on her mother that gave off an aura of snobbery which for example the first white house wedding of a president's daughter took place. and she took over the preparations and it was her who aid this is a family affair. the diplomatic corp is not going to be invited. >> angered all of them. >> when you talk about those 500 people, a number of them thought they should be invited to the wedding. and they wrote down their thoughts. and unfortunately for elizabeth monroe's historical reputation we have access to that but not her side of the story. >> somebody was beginning to fill in the social gap in
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washington and that was katherine adams who used the social networking as a way to campaign for the presidency. were these women friends? . yes but the adams were much more socially oriented and they had weekly get togethers of varying sizes. the monroes didn't go. they felt it was improper for the president to attend these sorts of private functions and articularly in his second term there was a mad scramble for the presidency. he wrote a letter to his attorney general about something. he put a sentence i hope you'll come visit us in virginia, you are always welcome, you not being a candidate for a certain
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office. >> that feels modern. >> we have a one party state but instead we are have the politics of personal faction. and indeed the second term was beset from the beginning with this jocking for 1824. >> jean is up next in texas. >> going back to a former series what was president's monroe's relationship with his vice president and who was vice president? >> all i will tell you is the most obscure vice president in american history and that's saying something. danielle d. tompkins who had been wartime governor of new york and was chosen as a running meat because of the war. and also the new yorkers were unhappy with the lock that virginia had on the presidency and so it was a bit -- you
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choose a vice president for political reasons. nd it was partly to aswage feelings in new york that tompkins was asked to serve. he was horribly in debt as governor. he was responsible for borrowing lots of money and it literally drove him to drink and he became alcoholic where he could not preside over the senate. where he and monroe were friends, by 1821, 1822 he was totally incap dated and he died shortly after his term as vice president ended. he may have been more prominent on the national scene had he lived a bit longer but he did not. >> how common was it for americans to be french speakers in the time of monroe? i think of english and german
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as more common, is that true? >> there were lots of americans who were french sympathizers in their politics. remember in the early days europe was at war and lots of americans were remembering france's assistance during the revolution who sympathized with the french revolution. one of the great stories about elizabeth monroe -- we probably should ground the time base spent in france. >> we'll do that next actually. >> then i'll save this story for then. >> in fact why don't we move on to that after this call from mark from los angeles and we'll look at her prewhite house years. >> please tell us about her relationship with the la fa yets and how she saved her from the guillotine. >> that's the story. >> be careful with this.
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>> why were they in france? >> they were in france in the mid 1790's. james had been appointed u.s. minute sfer to france. had arrived after pierre been gee tinned. they did not support the revolution. she and her family members had been arrested. governor morris who had been minister before monroe worked to try to get her out of prison but morris was not popular with the french government since he condemned the french revolution and supported the monarchy. when the mon rose came they
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picked up the effort to get her released and they staged an ent to draw attention to madam yet. and they hired an expensive carriage. elizabeth dressed in her best and went to the prison and asked to see her. the governor of the prison didn't know what to do. everybody wanted to see who this person was and word spread that it was the wife of the american minister. and she met with madam laugh yet and made her case a public one. some stories say the next day she was released. it wasn't the next day. it was a couple of months. but it kept her from going to the gee tin and it led to her release. the mon rose became the conduit
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for money to enable her to go to austria and join her husband. her husband was in prisonen in austria and she got out of prison in paris and went to austria and went into prison so she could be with her husband. >> what were american's views of this rescue? >> i don't know how much americans knew about it at the time. the story really doesn't get told until much later. what we know most about it is ought roe wrote in his biography which was not published until much later. so this story didn't become current until well after the event. >> as we said in the opening she monroe met e liza as
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was called in new york city at 17 years of age. but virginia became an important part of their lives in between their various political postings. we're going to show you two places important to them next. >> james monroe museum has been in existence since 1927 when his granddaughter led an effort to preserve the sight of his law office. we have the largest asemibladge of art facts and information related to the monroe family that you'll find anywhere in the country. elizabeth was a true partner in her husband's career and was a good sounding board for many of the policies and decisions he had to evolve. she was a very literal and arctic cue lat person and someone he could go for valuable advice. with the items on the table we life.ough an ark of her
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she had a sense of style. she had shoes we believe of her mothers that were of fine construction from london which she continued to use in her lifetime. as the mistress of oak hill, the farm they had, she was responsible for maintaining the household accounts and she did t on an ivory pad. they are ivory pieces with days of the week. your to-do list could be listed on her with a charcoal pencil and they were done. it reflects someone who was organized, busy and making use of a very practical item in her ife. the relationship that mrs. onroe had with her sisters was a strong bond in very much the style of the time and giving a gift of sisterly love, she presented to one of her sisters in the 17 the 0's jewelry made
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from her own hair. jewelry made of human hair became very common place in the 18th and 19th centuries. later in the 19th century, it's often associated with mourning in memorializing dead loved ones. it also can be an express of a very personal sign of affection. really the essence of a personal gift. music was an important part of elizabeth monroe's upbringing nd life. she appreciated music throughout her life and was trained in playing the piano. we have an astor piano forte, 1790, a british product. we believe it was used at the white house during their residency there. elizabeth monroe had a well developed sense of style and image. she did not have as well developed a budget due to the long years of public service hat james monroe put in, but they were particularly on their
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european postings able to make some pretty good deals on a variety of items. her jewelry is a reflection of hat. mrs. monroe had elements of high quality with versatility. we have here necklaces and their associated other jewelry that are in aqua marine and citrine, each can be worn with or without a pendant. you have a couple of different uses there. a broach, a bracelet or a choker is possible with the methyst jewelry. she had several options in her combinations. >> the monroes came up here after purchasing this property, some 3,500 acres and made this their permanent home from 1789 until 1823. mrs. monroe, a sophisticated new yorker" and moved south to
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this farm had to adjust to plantation life here. so far as we know, she adjusted to it very nicely and her gay would frequently begin down here. she would make sure that all the preparations that needed to be made for the meals of the day took place in a correct and fastidious fashion and she was in charge of that, in charge of the, what they called the servants. they were house slaves in making sure the house slaves made all of the preparations and then she in turn would make sure that some meals were put together. sometimes some of those meals were quite sophisticated meals. for while the meals here were much simpler than what she would find at monticello, and they liked to go there for the extraordinary meals. nevertheless, mrs. monroe was capable of putting together extraordinary dishes here. here we are in the dining room. the meal would begin after 2:00, sometimes at late as
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3:00. it would be earlier depending on the season and the light available. the table, it can be opened up so that 12 people could sit at this table. now the monroes had a corner cabinet very much like this one. the nice thing about this is that this piece was made in the shenandoha valley just 70 miles to the west of us. inside what is particularly significant is you see the monroe white house chinaware the monroes established that each president would have china of his own. efore that, the presidents would bring their own china from home. the monroes brought this china to the white house during monroe's administration between 1817 and 1825. we count ourselves very lucky that we have what we do. > how important was virginia in understanding elizabeth
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onroe? >> monroe made a joke later in life. a friend who was a member of congress from tennessee married a woman from pennsylvania and took her home to tennessee and there was a little bit of trepidation about whether she would adapt or not. and monroe wrote to him and said, i'm sure mrs. campbell will do ok. rs. monroe was a little uneasy about leaving new york, but she has become a good virginian. so she teamed to have fit in the life very easily. something along those lines that really said a lot about her character from very young is, as we mentioned, she was very young. she was 17 when she married monroe. he was 28. she was from new york. he was a member of the ontinental congress. in october of 1786 he finished his term in congress. they went to virginia.
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she left her family with whom she was very close, all of her friends. went to fredricksburg, virginia, went from new york city to little dinky fredricksburg, didn't know anybody. they bounced along the bad roads from new york to fredricksburg not knowing where she was going, what was going to happen when she got there. she was seven months shy -- months shy of 18, seven months pregnant. the grueling trip and the stamina that she had to make the trip and she could do it. >> the monroes had three children, a son who died in infancy and two daughters, we talked about them in particular. he question comes from someone who calls themselves president pondering. this will wrap up our understanding.
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how involved in politics was elizabeth monroe, how might they have viewed the monroe doctrine? >> i don't mean to, for years, there was people that suspected john quincy adams wrote it. elizabeth didn't write it. just about everybody else got credit for it. it's interesting. there is one point where he refers to her as his partner in all things. one senses, although, there is an unfortunate lack of documentation that that would include sharing his political secrets with her. i don't think of her, certainly in the modern sense as a political figure. she was certainly aware of what e was doing. we only have one letter that she wrote, but there are etters of her handwriting that she copied for him to either make copies to send to others or to keep. she was certainly aware of what
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was happening. they were together for so long and they were so close that it's inconceivable that they did not discuss public matters. she was certainly very much well aware of what was happening. >> and having lived through the french revolution, the reign of terror, she certainly would have had strong opinions about the approach to europe, you would imagine. >> yes. >> rachel from pensacola. >> hi, yes, i was wondering, back to the blue room, did president or mrs. monroe actually make a list of furniture? does anyone know that? >> thank you. >> i don't think he stipulated, it was president monroe who sent off this order. i don't think he stipulated specific pieces of furniture. >> he wrote to contacts, to merchants that he dealt with in france and we need chandeliers, we need design.
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he wanted the american symbols, the eagles and those sort of things. they undoubtedly talked about this. when they were abroad in europe and friends would write and ask for them to buy things for them, it was usually elizabeth who did the purchasing. >> general of sherman offers this view on twitter. the monroe china was beautiful, simple and classic. it's the first presidential china and at least one person in the audience who gives it a thumb's up. our time has evaporated on elizabeth monroe. in 20 seconds or less, can you tell us what people should know about this woman's tenure as first lady, what did she contribute? >> elegance. he brought a sense of style.
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she was known for her beauty, for her sense of fashion, but mostly for her elegance, bringing a sense of real style. if i was going to compare her to a modern modern first lady, not so modern, 50 years ago, i would think of jacquelyn kennedy with that sense of fashion and style and elegance that she brought to the white house. >> daniel press-on, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you for having me here. >> we will move on to our next first lady profile, that of louisa catherine adams. we'll be right back. >> she was the only first lady born outside the u.s. louisa catherine adams, writing in her diary in 1812 about the loss of her 1-year-old daughter, my heart is almost broken, and my temper which was never good suffers in proportion to my grief. my heart is buried in my louisa's grave and my greatest longing is to be laid beside
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her. a letter entry, it is the first tuesday and opens my campaign having given a general invitation for every tuesday during the winter. this plan makes some noise and creates some jealousy but it makes our congress less dependent on the foreign ministers for their amusement. i wish they may prove so. and to her son, the situation n which we found the house made it necessary to fur finish almost entirely anew a large portion of the apartments. i respect my masters the sovereign people with great sincerity but i am not so much alarmed at the idea of going out at the end of four years as to desire to make any sacrifice of actual comfort for the sake of prolonging my so journey in his would be magnificent habitation which after all like every thing else in this desolate city is but an half finished barn.
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>> louisa catherine adams lmost disappeared. >> she is sort of an unsung first lady who deserves much more exploration than she has received. >> the relationship between louisa and john quincy is elusive and in many ways distressing. i don't think he realizes what a treasure he had. it's interesting because his father did. old john adams took to her. bigail never really did, but john did. >> she was born in england and educated in france and she remained a phone personality to many of the adams, but not to henry as a world traveler herself. she was very well educated, very sophisticated socially i would say. she sort of entertained john quincy's road to the white house.
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>> she was not happy about returning to washington as the wife of a congressman. >> louisa catherine adams essentially became the campaign manager for her husband, john quincy adams' run for the presidency in 1824 by dominating the capital city's social circuit. following a contested election, the adams' four years in the white house were a turbulent period in american politics and washington society. we'll look at louisa adams' relationship with her husband john quincy adams and john and abigail on the road to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. good evening and welcome to our continuing series on first ladies influence and image in partnership with the white house historical association. the next installment is on louisa catherine adams, the wife of john quincy adams. we have two guests at the able, richard norton smith and
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meet amanda matthews. she is at the massachusetts historical society where she is a research associate for the adams papers. ms. matthews, we learned there was not much documentary evidence about elizabeth monroe. how about louisa catherine adams, what exists? >> quite a wealth. she kept diaries intermittently. she wrote autobiographies and memoirs. there are hundreds and hundreds of letters of hers. we have her thoughts and feelings from her point of view, both reflective and contemporary as the events were taking place. >> another suggested that in her research she saw louisa adams as the first modern first lady. do you agree with that contention that she developed a sense of self? >> in some ways she has her own cause. he works with the washington female orphan asylum, so in that way it's somewhat modern having this cause that she was involved in and she does work
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politics in her parlor in such a way as to help win the presidency for her husband in her own way. >> well, richard norton smith, explain to people how the presidency was won in 1820's, it was a very different system than we have today? >> it was. as we said earlier, everyone in monroe's cabinet seemed among others that wanted to succeed him including john quincy adams, secretary of state. the great popular hero was andrew jackson, a controversial figure in his own right. there was a multicandidate field. no one got a majority, either of the popular or electoral vote. in both cases jackson came in first, adams came in second. so the election went to the house of representatives. the man eliminated by the
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constitution, the fourth place finishing, henry clay ultimately threw his support to adams. it was enough to win him the presidency which turned out in many ways to be a poisoned chalice. from day one there were charges of corruption. they hung over the adams residency, i think it's safe to say. adams sent an apologetic note in his inaugural address. it was the election of 1828 began almost before he took the oath of office. >> you mentioned in her own way, she helped him win the presidency. she actually began to refer to it as my campaign. it was the second half of the -- second half of the monroe administration where the social etiquette wars were in full force. the adams saw an opportunity as seeing social washington as a pathway to the white house. ow did they do it? >> when they get back in 1817 to washington, they have been gone from washington for quite
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a while. john quincy has served in st. petersburg and washington and he is back. a lot of people in washington don't know him. the way the etiquette situation works in washington right now, it really favors people who have been there for a while. so they want to shake things up. one of the ways they do that is we're not going to call on all of the senators' families first which is how you make a social connection. on the other hand, let's invite you, we are going have these parties. you can come, even if we haven't connected in these formal visits. that kind of put them in a position of power as a social leader because they were making the rules now, kind of trying to take back a little bit of power that congress had, louisa said that congress makes and unmakes presidents at their with him. they wanted to pull a little it of that back to the
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executive. they start throwing these parties. she has her sociable it's in 1819, some seasons weekly, and other seasons every two weeks where hundreds of people would come. it was a subscription series. they kind of become the center of entertainment in washington. >> one of these balls that she threw was for a contender for the white house, andrew jackson. what was her thinking in involving her husband's rival? >> it's simple. so many people came to the house that night on f street that they had to show up the floors for something like 900 people who attended. i wish i would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. louisa must have been a emarkable hostess. she had attracted attention. she had been a favorite in the prussian court when her husband was u.s. envoy there. zar alexander of russia made her one of his favorite dancing partners. there clearly was a charisma about this woman that had set
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her apart in the courts of europe. and tragically, it very rarely comes through in the american setting. you would know much more about that. > i think it certainly does in the socioables. she complains that even though she had no political power, everybody seems to want to know her and spend time with them. she claims to be quite put out by the imposition. i think that the same charm that she exhibits in europe is still exhibited in the united states as this wonderful newspaper account of an englishman observing louisa, this is during the white house years. she is taking the bowl back to quincy and people are just coming up to her and talking to her as though she is the first lady, oh, we're dressed as well as she is and talking to her as if they had known her for 10 years. she must have been very affable and made people comfortable in her presence.
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>> you have read her diaries of these events. ike her mother-in-law, she had candid views of the people she was meeting. we have one of them. tell us the context. she wrote, "i have the happiness of meeting with a variety of these misleaders who are either not gifted with common sense or have a sort of mind when which i have often met with utterly incapable of comprehending anything in a plain way, whether that's a natural defect in the formation of the brain, i will leave philosophers and metta physicians to decide." > because campaigning is not allowed, john quincy can't come out and say i would like you to vote for me as president, the candidates can't do that and you can't ask for office directly, you have to kind of use these subtle back channels. women were a good conduit for that. and so people had louisa to spread their gossip, to ask for favors.
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she doesn't always -- she knows that she can't trust these people. she is not naive. a lot of them are spreading false gossip or false information. they're misleading. they all have their own agendas. she is aware of the political game that is going on. she is not terribly a fan of it. >> we welcome your questions on louisa and john quincy adams on the program. you can post on c-span's facebook page or send a tweet with #firstladies. >> you read that quote and you realize instantly why there was an instant bond formed between louisa and her father-in-law, ld john adams. >> why is that? >> john adams was a man of
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strong opinions, very few, great reluctance to share them with anyone that would listen, a stern new england conscience, a profound sense of right and wrong and he and his exotic european daughter-in-law seemed to have hit it off from the first. abigail was a little bit harder sell. >> is it fair to say that john quincy adams was not the most ociable man? >> john quincy adams, even the people who admire j.q.a., i'm among them, would not suggest that he was a modern figure in terms of outreach to people generally, but more in terms of tonight's context, he would not have been an easy man to be married to. this is a stormy relationship. yet the adams argued over the same thing that couples argued over since there was marriage. they argued over money and
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their children. there were small tragedies in louisa catherine's life, a life that was filled with tragedy as far as her children were concerned. her husband was appointed minister to russia and at the last minute, her older sons, george washington adams and john adams ii are going to stay ehind. she can't take her children with her to russia. they're going to stay behind with john and abigail to be raised as americans on american soil. you often get the sense of a woman who is powerless within her marriage to be making fundamental parental decisions, hat they were reserved as most decisions were for john
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quincy. >> but she must have had the innate desire, she worked her heart out to get her husband to the white house. then she gets there and how does she enjoy her tenure? >> not very. not very much. the white house years are very unpleasant years for the adams and was readily apparently to everyone in the family, charles francis adams, their son, talks about it in his own diary of ow sad the household seemed at the time. >> what made it that way? >> i think the cloud under which the presidency began, it never lifts. because this campaigning for 828 begins almost instantly, louisa feels very personally the attacks on her husband, on his character, some attacks on her character, is she not american enough? i think that that situation really did not -- they finally eached the pinnacle and it's
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not a happy pinnacle. it's very, it's a very stormy four years for them. and the white house is not a very comfortable place to live. people coming in all the time and -- >> and here is one quote that really captures this had. she wrote, "there is something in this great unsocial house which depresses me beyond expression." >> well, she was accused of, bizarrely, of extravagance in the house. one was a billiard table which the first lady had purchased using the tax dollars of honest working men. omehow this very un-american quality that people wanted to read into her. on the other hand, there are hese wonderful bizarre letters
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onfirming her addiction to chocolate of louisa catherine adams was a chocoholic. i say being married to the sourest man in washington, she took her sweets where she could find them. apparently she had her sons and others buy chocolate shells by the barrelful and she writes about the medicinal qualities f fudge. i mean it was as if she took it where she could find them. that's pretty pathetic. >> i would say that the shells are probably not bon-bons. she is not sitting on her sofa munching. they're the cocoa bean shell. you would steep them in had water. it would be like coffee and you would add milk.
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she was interested in the medicinal qualities of it. i wouldn't go too far on john quincy's sourness. there is affection between the two of them and great love. otherwise she could have stayed in quincy. >> after they lost, i think, the daughter, is it true he gave her a book on the diseases of the mind? >> some months later, yes. >> it's the modernize, the insensitivity. he is certainly not a modern husband. louisa had by one count nine miscarriages. >> minimum five and a stiff birth, officially more. they are sometimes hard to read into it because of how discreet they are with their language. at least five with a still birth. she had a lot of tragedy. >> and three sons who lived to maturity. >> if you can call it maturity. >> speaking of their family, brian watkins asked on twitter, did having a former first lady as a mother-in-law help or hinder louisa?
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>> of course, abigail had passed by the time john quincy attained the presidency, so she can't ask her mother-in-law about handling the role and the role had somewhat shifted. louisa generally follows the presence that monroe set, not attending public functions. it did help. he was familiar with her mother-in-law's opinions and the way she had carried herself. i think that she wanted in some ways to keep that in mind and honor that. >> did she continue the entertaining that she had done to get him to the white house once they were in the white house? >> no, not to that degree. the sociables were informal. there was music, there was often dancing. once they get into the white house, the entertainments are much more restricted. they're open to a lot of people, especially the drawing ooms, but they're not, there
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is not that kind of dancing until actually the end of their term. as their on their way out, the last great drawing room, they actually have music and dancing and people stay until 2:00 in the morning and talk about how gracious the adams are knowing hat they are, that they have failed in re-election and it's probably one of the greatest entertainments that they had in the four years. >> next is a question from leroy from kentucky. >> yes, ma'am. i am really enjoying this, this is great. >> thank you. >> were the adams family, john quincy and his wife, were they god fearing people, did they attend church and teach their children things of the lord? i'm a minister so i'm concerned about this. >> thank you. >> yes. louisa's religious views evolve over time. it's very interesting. her father was unitarian.
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she was raised in england where that was not an acceptable in england. she was raised in france so she was exposed to catholicism. the early years of her life with john quincy, they attend numerous types of churches, >> she ends up very much an episcopal thinker, high church and in her later years she spends a lot of time remissing and reflecting on the role of religion and it's very much an important piece for her. >> next up is nick in prince frederick, maryland. hi, nick. >> hi, how are you? first of all, thank you, c-span, for this great program. mr. smith, i'm very excited to get through. i think your work is great and i'm glad you're part of this series as well. two things i hope to get you to comment on.
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i live in calvert county. we have links to louisa catherine here. her uncle was one of maryland's first governors if not the first governor. there is not a sources linking her here. in the town center, there is a placard talking about her he had readty to the area. and there is an impression of louisa catherine that she is very much involved in the politics of washington. you don't get the sense of whether it's just on the surface or whether her words are contributing to the compromises made during this time. would both of you mind commenting on those two things? >> the johnsons we wish to explain are louisa catherine's birth family. connections in calvert county, maryland, do you know of them? >> yes, her family was from maryland and her father was born in maryland, which is very
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important because that's how she makes her claim that no, i am an american. i might have been born in london, but my father is an american. i'm very much an american. her uncle was the first governor of maryland. so she has an important connection with maryland and actually is able to use those once she is campaigning to get maryland to vote for john quincy in the 1824 election. >> how about the second question, which is how involved was she really in the politics of the time. >> you know, it's always been murky. there is no clear line between social politicking and the process leading to x number of votes being cast on the floor of the house. in this city, they have always overlapped. one of the great skills, in some ways it began with dolly madison who understand that more could be achieved out of a committee room off the floor of
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the house in a social setting. and in that sense, louisa catherine is a politically attuned figure. i don't think you would find her dictating a platform or like, say, betty ford, campaigning for equal rights amendment. >> what was the quincy adams president all about, what was it known for? >> he was 100 years ahead of his time. t makes him look better to historians than contemporaries. remember, this man's legitimacy had been questioned, and yet he introduces this breathtaking program that in some ways anticipates the new deal by 100 years saying that the federal government should be in the road building business. there should be a national university here in washington. he even proposed a national astronomical observatory, he called this the white house of the sky.
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he was ridiculed by the jeffersonan jacksonan small government crowd. it did nothing to enhance his popularity at the time. it may have been contributed to his defeat for re-election. some 100 years, he was somewhat prophetic. >> jennifer is in provo, utah. hello, jennifer. >> i am enjoying this series, i watch every week. >> great, thank you. >> my question is, and it may have been shown during the program, i'm sorry if i haven't noticed, but the portraits you have been showing of the two of them, louisa catherine and john quincy adams, was there a big age difference between them? >> well, thanks for asking the question. why don't we explain how the two of them met and what the age difference was. >> there is an eight-year age difference, john quincy born
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1767, louisa in 1775. they meet in london. john quincy adams is the resident minister to the hague in the netherlands and he is sent from there to london to exchange the ratifications for the jay treaty. by the time he gets to london, the business has already been concluded. he doesn't have a lot to do. so when he spends his time doing is visiting the house of the johnsons, joshua johnson, louisa's father was the u.s. consulate london and he entertained generally all of the americans who came through to london, prominent merchant in london and americans would come and socialize and enjoy evenings of entertainment with his many daughters who were all talented. louisa played the harp and he would come and enjoy their company and after a little bit of time, made his intentions known that it was louisa, and
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anne, older sister, better none as nancy that he was interested in. they began their courtship and engagement. >> after they married, did they return to the united states? >> not immediately. john quincy is appointed from the netherlands as the minister of purchase that to berlin. they spend the first four years of their marriage in berlin. she doesn't actually see the united states until 1801. their first four years of marriage are somewhat difficult. she experiences four miscarriages in that time before finally giving birth to her first son, george washington adams. that caused a bit of controversy naming the eldest son after george washington and not john. >> when she arrived in the united states, it was the first time she had ever seen the country of her nationality and she went to the adams home outside of boston, quincy,
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massachusetts, and their place which we met during the john adams program was known as peacefield. we'll show you that next. >> when louisa and john quincy first came to the old house, they had just journeyed back from europe, came from washington, d.c. and made the way up to braintree or quincy. the journey was arduous or her. her health was not very good and the journey was difficult. she met her father and mother-in-law, she would write, if i had stepped on noah's ark, i wouldn't have been more astonished. she had a challenge to win over abigail adams. she took to john, it was very easy. abigail was more skeptical, perhaps due to john quincy's teasing. he only gave abigail a little bit of information about louisa catherine and wasn't forthright in his intentions.
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it was in many ways a surprise that he married louisa catherine so quickly and abigail did not get a chance to know her. she was quite concerned, that although she was an american citizen, she had never stepped foot on american soil. this was not what she intended for her son john quincy adams, the statesman. through time she learned to grow and love and understand louisa catherine and through the years, they forged a very strong and loving relationship. louisa catherine describing abigail adams at the end of her life as the planet with which all revolved. they did not live at peacefield year-round. in fact, they would return only during the summer months to get a relief from the politics of washington. her grandson, henry adams, remembered louisa catherine fondly. in his works, the education of henry adams, he describes louisa catherine and her role in this house and the
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relationship with the family, he always felt that she was the odd man out, if you will, because she was born in england and educated in france and she remained a foreign personality to many of the adams, but not to henry as a world traveler himself. the his fondest recollection is of louisa sitting in her paneled room at her table using her silver teapot set that she brought with her from her home in england to the old house. she would entertain both herself and many of her guests in this room. john quincy adams and louisa would inherit this home from john adams. john quincy thought about selling this house, but after discussion and thought with louisa catherine, they decided that this was important to the family story to hold onto this house for future generations. >> and you can visit their today, is that correct? >> yes, wonderful. >> where are the papers? >> the papers are at the massachusetts historical
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society in boston. they used to be at the old house of the stone library, but they were transferred to the historical society for safekeeping. >> i have a question on facebook from jeannie, i have read excerpts from louisa adams' auto biography and her rumors that the massachusetts historical society was going to public this. is this true? >> yes, a two-volume set of our autobiographical writings which includes a record of my life, adventures of a nobody, and her narrative of a journey from st. petersburg to france and all of her diaries have already been published in a scholarly edition, two-volume set. next year a trade edition of these writings will be available and called "a traveled first lady" with a foreword by former first lady laura bush. >> we must talk a little bit about their posting in st.
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petersburg and her incredible journey back to meet her husband. can you tell what is important about that story? >> their years in st. petersburg are difficult in some ways. st. petersburg is a hardship outpost. it's cold. it's forbidding, their aren't a lot of other women there. most of the diplomats' wives don't travel with their husbands when they travel to st. petersburg. they have a little girl, louisa catherine adams and the child dies after about a year. that really devastates her mother, louisa. it's very painful, and john quincy. he is also very much torn apart by this. the war of 1812 here has broken out. john quincy is sent to negotiate a treaty and he leaves louisa with her youngest son, charles francis, in st. petersburg and eventually when
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peace is resolved and he is sure that he'll either be returning home or be sent to london, he asks her to join him. so she makes this arduous and pearlous journey from st. petersburg in the winter to paris with her son, who is only 7 at the time, and a couple of servants that she just basically met that day. she doesn't know if she can trust them. as she is crossing europe, she encounters dangerous travel conditions, but also napoleon has escaped from alba and is coming back to france. she encounters resurgent armies to greet him and she is crossing very per i willous territory -- perilous territory at this time. >> her life was in danger throughout this trip. quote. is another
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"it was 4:00 in the evening, the ice was in so critical a state, i could with difficulty procure men and horses to go over. they informed me that i should have to make a long and tedious de fewer if i could not cross, that the passage over would be attended with great risk if not danger." >> she went over the alps in a carriage and a 7-year-old. the resourcefulness of this woman is just extraordinary. >> why don't we know more about her, her really interesting life story? why is she not better known among the first ladies? >> that is partly because john quincy's presidency has been obscured for so long that that diminished interest in her. what makes john quincy interesting, i think, to historians today is his post-white house years for which people did not seem to ink that louisa was really a
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part of, somewhat mistakenly. i think that's really kept her from being the prominent, and abigail does kind of outshine when you're talking about the adams and that has kept louisa from getting her due a bill lit. >> carol is watching us from santa fe, you're on, carol. >> yes, this is a fantastic series, i love it. my question is, you keep referring to the white house and i understand it was called the president's house for some time. do you know when it changed its name to the white house? >> teddy roosevelt. at the beginning of the 20th century formally changed the name to the more informal white house. ironically at the very same time that his wife was taking the house back to it's more formal federal style inside. >> is it true that some of the exterior was painted white after the fire from the british
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to cover some of the scorch marks, so that's when it began to look white? >> it was informally referred to. the man on the street didn't refer to it as the executive mansion, but t.r. made it official. >> let's go to a call from katherine in rockville, maryland, hi, katherine. >> hi. what was -- ring was she, was louisa ever violated or were her rights ever violated and what did she do about it? >> were her rights ever violated? what are you thinking of? things like l or her speaking out for what she believed in. >> ok, well, this is a great question to talk about what role and i'll ask both of you, women really had in society at this point of time in america. >> well, she is not political.
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she is not speaking out politically the way perhaps abigail did with her husband. she is not a public political figure speaking out on these things, but she has her own private views on some things, although not -- her views on politics are more about how people behave. she is much more interested in everyone conducting themselves properly. even people are own side. she doesn't like people who are supporting the policies that her husband has supported have crossed the line in terms of decorum. i think she is not trying to get out and she is not -- she is not an activist. i wouldn't want to say that about her. >> nearly 100 years until women have the right to vote in society. we should point that out for our younger viewers who may not know that. what role could they play?
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where did their power come from? >> there is a touching coda to this story in her later years, just as john quincy became more and more outspoken to the opposition of slavery and of course famously played the role in the amistad case. there is this wonderful corners, i assume you have it, between louisa and the greenkey sisters, angelina and sarah who re pioneering abolitionists, activists, feminists of their day. i think she comes probably as close there as anywhere else to spelling out an evolving sense of women's roles. >> had is also an interesting time. her mother-in-law had passed as you said, but we think of abigail adams and her famous exhortation to john, "remember the ladies." it's written that abigail's letters were becoming more
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visible, more published and louisa began to see an affinity between her mother-in-law and herself on the women's issues. >> yes, toward the end of louisa's life and when she is corresponding with sarah grimke, there is a sense she seeks an equality of the mind for women, but not so that women can run for office. it's not that kind of feminism. it's not that women can play the front role. it's so women can better fulfill their primary functions as mother, wife, and daughter. they had this god given -- this is where her religion comes in again, that god had created man and woman equal in this way. that was how she could -- and that in their minds they could partners.and be complimentary partners, not for women to become more like men. i think abigail's feminism as
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it were is somewhere along the same bent allowing women to become better republican mothers and wife's and ennoble men to fulfill their calling with honor and dignity. >> we should get a little bit of presidential history in here. does john quincy adams seek re-election? >> he did. it was a lot of people think to this day the most scurilous campaigns, both sides threw plenty of mud at the other. it wasn't close at the end. andrew jackson denied the presidency four years earlier, overwhelmed john quincy adams. and like his father, he didn't stick around for his successor's inauguration. he did come back to washington just a couple years later in a unique role, the only american president to this day who came back as a member of the house of representatives.
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>> so there is a couple of firsts here, the first father and son to serve in the white house, this is the first and only foreign born first lady and the first and only president to come back in an elective role in the legislature. >> history repeated itself in one other tragic way. john and abigail lost a son between his defeat and the inauguration of thomas jefferson. >> he committed suicide? >> george washington adams, who i suspect just the pressure of that name would probably drive anyone up the wall. george washington adams almost definitely committed suicide. >> just around the time his father was losing the election. >> yes, stepped off a boat. >> it was may 1829 so the power had already shifted to andrew jackson, they had asked george to come back to washington to escort family to quincy and it
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was on that trip that he either ll or jumped off the boat, really, again, devastating family, it was a personal tragedy. >> two years brother, his brother john died of alcoholism. >> 1834, so it was a little bit later. >> so only one child survived and what about their grandchildren and their heirs? >> there are a number of grandchildren. john adams ii, the second of the children, he had had two, e had married his cousin and had two children. john quincy and louisa became the guardians to those children. the younger one, fanny, actually dies in 1839. another tragedy upon tragedy. john francis adams marries abigail brooks. they have a number of children.
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they're in quincy in boston so the john quincy and louisa only really see them during the summer break because they spend pretty much all of their time in washington. >> cheryl is in santa barbara, hi, cheryl. >> thank you so much for having this program. i'm really enjoying it. i was wondering if you know what louisa catherine's size was? she looks very petite in her pictures. >> do we know? thank you. >> she was definitely slender. i couldn't tell you how tall she was. i don't think particularly so. she remained slender throughout her life. >> i think someone around 5'6". >> are there dresses of hers preserved anywhere? >> that i don't know. there may be at the old house in quincy. >> so after the defeat for re-election, they go back to boston and stay there for how long? >> well, not very long because in 1830 is this election from
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what was called the plymouth district and john quincy accepted the nomination and spends the rest of his life, in fact, literally will die with his boots on suffering a stroke on the floor of the house of representatives. >> they come back to the house on f street, the one that they had built for all of the social entertaining that got john quincy adams to the white house. what were their congressional years like here and especially for her? >> they don't come back to f street initially. that house was rented out during their presidency. they don't get back there until the 1830's. the years are much better. after 1834, the first few years have so much tragedy. i think that things really improved. they're able to socialize and entertain and have these dinner parties, but there is no more striving. they have already reached all that can happen, so i think
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that these are years more of peace. there is certainly a lot of still political struggle and louisa talks about that. i think between her and john quincy, there is somewhat of an understanding. she always knew that he needed politics in order to live. even though she had been very angry at his insistence on going back to washington, she even threatened to stay in quincy and not come to washington, eventually she cooled off and decided she would follow him after all. i think that there is good years, even the political fights over the gag rule and his center in congress. >> some mellowing on both of their parts. >> it was a 50-year marriage. >> they had been through the worst. the white house was a thing of the past. i think she was more politically aligned with him during his congressional career because of the charges about the corrupt deal had in some
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ways come between them, all of that was in the past. i think in some ways they grew closer in the last years. >> did she begin to influence him on issues like slavery and women's rights? >> i wouldn't use influence in that way. on women's rights, i certainly don't think that that is something that, that they would have really discussed in that way. it wasn't something being put forward in congress. slavery, they actually saw pretty near eye to eye. it's hard to say who influenced who or they both kind of got there on their own. he grew up in a massachusetts family that had always opposed slavery. perhaps he felt freer in ongress to act about it. she has family members who are slave holders being from maryland. both don't like slavery, but both are gradual abolitions. neither want immediate
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abolition which causes tension for them. let's take a call next from jeffrey in sarasota. hi, jeffrey. >> hi, thank you for taking my call. i'm going the show immensely. i'm a history teacher who grew up in connecticut, but i'm now living in florida. i'm very interested in the adams family. you just brought up a question that i had whether or not louisa had difficulty with her father's family being from slave holding maryland and you sort of alluded to it, but that was one question, how difficult was that for her on a personal level? and the other one is just curiosity, did she live long enough to have her photograph taken and if she did, do you have a photograph of her? thank you. >> thanks for the question. are there any photographic
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portraits? >> i don't know if there are any photographs. john quincy had his photograph taken. i want to say that there might be, but i'm not 100% sure on that. you should check the portraits volume of the adams papers. if there is one, it probably would be in there. >> our producer has told me no photos. they spend a lot of time looking for them. john quincy adams dies a dramatic death. tell the story. >> you know, first of all, one reason why i think life was better for them at the end was that the public attitude towards john quincy had changed. admirers called him old panel constituent, south carolinians called him the mad man from massachusetts. his career in congress was in so many ways an expression of that dogged commitment to principal even at the risk of
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unpopularity. in the end, he won some of his battles. he won, for example, repealing the gag rule that slavery forces had imposed on congress. he became an immensely respected elder statesman. in february 1848 on the floor of the house, one member of congress looked over in his direction and said look to mr. adams, mr. adams is dying. his forehead had a flushed very mottled color, he tried to stand and he fell over. he was carried to, i think the speaker's office just off the floor of the house and henry clay came to visit him and, of course, louisa came and he didn't recognize her. supposedly his last words were, this is the last of earth, but i am content, which i never believed because i don't think john quincy adams was ever contented for a moment. but he died in the capital in
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effect doing his duty. >> do we think of a stroke is likely what happened? >> yes. >> and how old was he? >> 81. >> and how long did she live after his death and how? >> another four years. e stays in washington, cared for by her son's wife, john adams ii's wife, mary katharine helen adams. she lives quietly. her health is fading. she has a stroke the following year and is somewhat inhave a lid for the rest of her -- invalid for the rest of her life. charles francis adams meets with her about a year before she dies and said you said in the diary how content she seemed. not that she was looking forward to death, but she had truly resigned herself and could face the end with great courage and faith. >> you are looking at some footage of the presidential
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burial place. if you ever get to massachusetts and quincy, it's really quite an arresting spot of both presidential couples buried side by side in a church? >> the church of the presidents. >> the two memorials with flags graves of the wo presidents yourself. we have just a couple of, well, one more call left. his is william i remember seeing a few years ago i believe it was talking about the adams women and the strength of them, their inner strength and he mentioned something about one of them having had breast cancer and having had the surgery and it was in the days before anesthesia or whatever. >> our time is short.
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that is abigail adam's daughter who had breast cancer and a ma tecktoim in the days before anesthesia. >> yes. >> closing here we want to bring all of these conversations back full circle. what should add the dams be remembered for? >> i think she's a fascinating figure who the interest in her much as every bit as for her mother-in-law which she saw the governance of the world than most women of that day in london, in berlin n washington. and she truly experiences and reflects on these experiences through her letters and her diaries in a way that really bring a richness to our understanding of the world in
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the period she lived in. >> quite a dramatic life. >> and plenty of tragedy. that's what sticks with me. this is a woman who lived through extraordinary events, crossed paths with remarkable historical figures but in the domestic life she suffered loss after loss after loss. and the apparent triumph of their life together the presidency turned out disappointing. that's not the note on which the story ends. i think there is inspiration there for all of us. >> thank you for helping us learn more about these first ladies. . thanks to you for being was
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captioning by the national captioning institute www.ncicap.org-- >> during her husband's presidential campaign rachel jackson was called a bigamist and aadulterer by his political opponents. she died of an apparent heart attack before he took office.
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we'll explore the effect of her death on his presidency and the role of his niece as white house hostess and the scand that will led to her dismissal. in the second part of our program the reemergence of dolley madison as match maker. and because the president was a widower she assumes the role of white house hostess monday at 9:00 eastern on c-span and span 3, also on c-span radio and orgorg -- cspan.org. >> our website has more about the first ladies caldwell come to the white house produced by our partner which chronicles li

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